Channelling Positive Anything...

So I got a good look today at what the next three months will include if I am to finish this design program on time...and it didn't leave me with all kinds of happy thoughts. In fact, it didn't leave me with much happy at all. I feel like I've worked my A$$ off for two years...and there still is SO MUCH that I have to do to round out my portfolio. Crap-tastic.

Swimming is all I'm caring about right now. And I gotta get my run on. The heat is deterring me this week. That, and I'm still really dysfunctional around my sleep habits...every time I think I want to go for a run, I wind up taking a nap instead. Hmmmm. Maybe my natural bio-rhythms are stuck in camp mode and my body thinks that for June, July and August, I'm supposed to have rest hour?

Anyway, here's hoping I can channel the swim energy into the rest of my world. Lord knows I'm going to need all the help I can get...

Oh, and as a total non sequitur: did I mention that I have a new obsession? For those of you unlucky folk who are still unacquainted, meet CIA Agent Sydney Bristow:
























Think I could take Vaughn down?

Got my swim on

My swim times are coming back and it makes me HAPPY!

Today we swam this set twice through for the main set:

200 pull with paddles
4x25 IM order, :30 sendoff (had a hard time making the breaststroke leg)
4x100 on a 1:45

I can feel my pull getting stronger and it was nice to have some stroke work thrown in disguised as an "easier" set. When coach told us to swim the 100s on a 1:45 I kinda gulped because I've been swimming consistent 1:37-1:47 ish 100s and when he said 10-15 seconds rest, I was thinkin...no way, I'm going to be getting 3-5 seconds rest on a 1:45. I asked if 1:50 was a better interval for me and he suggested I just try 1:45, see how it goes. Ok.

Low and behold, swimming 3x/week for the month of June has put money in the swim bank...it's amazing what a little focus will do! I swam all the 100s on a 1:30-1:35 without too much trouble...it was challenging but not so hard that my stroke fell apart...and 10 seconds rest was just enough. SWEET.

Then to finish we swam on a :30:

8x25 with fins and paddles (fast!)
8x25 with just fins
8x25 swim

This was a FUN set...and actually pretty amazing to see that we weren't that much slower swimming than we were with the equipment... really only about a 5 second difference. I love that the tiniest little adjustments make you FEEL that much faster.

The best thing about getting back into Masters swim is that it's been EASY. I was so worried that the 4 years I spent in VT training my body to wake up early early 2x/week to get to the pool would be wasted after 2 years of messed up grad school sleep schedules...that I'd have to start over...but it's been really easy to slide right back into the routine and I don't have to drag myself out of bed because I wake up WANTING to go and feel like I've totally missed the bus if I don't. PHEW. Looks like Triathlete Girl is still in there.

What a relief!

REALLY back in the game...

Whoa, last post was in October of last year. Crazy.

Well, the next 18 days will be interesting as I get ready to venture back into the world of multi-sport at the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon!! My training pals have helped nudge me in the right direction...and while I've been swimming a lot and cycling since January, somehow I just didn't think I had it in me to race this summer. The heat will be a challenge, along with the run and my current all time max weight (ugh, no one told me about the grad school 20...), but after a grueling almost 4 hour ride in the north Georgia mountains, I'm pretty sure I can pull it off. And if I don't finish, at least I will have gotten up early and toed the line to start it off...that much is sure!

The best development of late is that my favorite outdoor city pool has a masters group and the coach is AWESOME...a lot like my favorite coach up north in that he layers his swim sets and isn't afraid to mix it up a bunch with equipment and focus points. I actually saw a 1:30 today on a timed 100 which I have not seen since leaving VT. Very cool. I LOVE swimming outside and the BEST part is that my favorite triathletes/BFFs have joined me and are now understanding why I've been so frustrated with: 10x100, 5x200, 2x500, ready go. I've finally stopped wanting to throw kickboards. OH.HAPPY.DAY.

Things with grad school are winding up and down all at once. I have one more quarter to slog through and I'll be DONE...alas, it still feels like I'm in the foothills of the mountain that I must climb to wrap it all up by the end of September. I'll get there. In the meantime, anyone wanna hire a jack-of-all-trades graphic designer/illustrator?

Leave as many comments as possible, I need all the comment love I can get to stay on this wave amidst the hazards of grad quarter! But it's so good to be back!

Train hard!

Try as I might, there's been no Tri

(the Blue Ridge Highway, one year ago...)


So I didn't make it out to the Alzheimer's Tri To Remember race despite the fact that my intrepid training partner was a total rockstar and kicked ass. I didn't anticipate the amount of energy I would expend finishing up Quarter #4 at school. It pretty much kicked my ass but I've recovered over two weeks of break and am now slowly (thankfully) easing into Quarter #5. Half way there, folks. Now all I'm worried about is where my next loan check will come from.

I did join the Peachtree Tri Club and have now gone to two swim workouts. It's so much more social than the team I was swimming with prior and it's still at Tech so I'm happy. I've also been riding pretty regularly with a group on Wednesday nights and that's been GREAT. The weather is so so beautiful right now. YUM.

If you want to see what I HAVE been up to (since it's not triathlon) swing on over to th'other blog and check it out! Comment love is always appreciated.

Train hard!!

The Amphibian

So I'm in a packaging class and each week we have a different challenge - like project runway. You can see what we've been doing here but I had to post this because it just makes me laugh. We had to "re-brand" either Barbie or GI Joe - you know, make a new version of the doll that hasn't been done yet. I was assigned GI Joe and I don't know about you, but have you ever seen how freakin' violent those toys are? Anyway, I wound up using Ken and just called him GI Joe - he's THE AMPHIBIAN - the Ironman Triathlete for the new Post-Bellum line of GI Joes. The series would continue with Tour De France Joe, Mt. Everest Scaling Joe, Scuba Joe, Michael Phelps Joe...you get the idea. I just giggled to myself the whole time i was making him. His swim cap is the thumb of a rubber glove. And he has a bike too - I haven't downloaded the pics from my camera yet... more to come.

BACK IN THE GAME!!

Okay, okay, I know I promised I'd post. But just as I was getting some blogging momentum, my neighbor moved and so did my free wireless internet connection. I'm working on getting up and running again but did you know when you order a comcast set up it takes them FOREVER to come do it?? Who knew? Losers.

Anyway, quick update:

First, I've found THE most fun and compatible training partner and she's keeping me totally on track and motivated. Training is fun again!!! Check out her awesome blog here. We've been having a blast biking around town and running afterwards...and we even swam TWO MILES one day!!! My shoulders hurt.

SO, I've been swimming a lot in an outdoor pool which ROCKS and have been riding my bike a ton and running some too. It's all good. Balance is back! Now I just need to get thru this silly design program and find a job and life will resume it's normalcy. One more year...

OK, will at least post more when I get my internet back. Sorry for the lameness!!

Train hard!

Wednesday Ride

So I don't have class on Wednesdays and it's not a day where I need to spend the whole time working... so I've decided that I will ride on Wednesday mornings. I missed the bus today and didn't get up with my alarm...but I'm trying not to dwell on it and so I packed up the car and headed for the Silver Comet Trail. The humidity has quit for a few days so it was warm, breezy and dry for the whole 27 miles. Beautiful. I was shooting for 30 but my legs protested and when the asphalt turned to concrete slabs I turned around. I was 4 minutes faster on the return trip so that's good... I give partial credit to having warmed up and the rest to the fact that I think there's more false flats on the way out... ;) I like the flat, no more than 2% grade. It's a far cry from the 14% grades I was riding in VT. Still, I'll find some hills soon enough.

Been eating whole, healthy foods and I feel SO much better today. I've always said I have to work my health from all angles...nice that my body gives me such accurate feedback!

Train safe.

ps. I'd like to note that more than HALF of the people I saw riding and roller blading today were NOT wearing helmets. And many of them were kids. What's WRONG with ya'll???

Baby Steps

Ok the slow process of reminding my body what it's like to get up early and go to bed early is underway. I spent a lovely hour this morning walking and jogging and enjoying the quiet sunshine. Yesterday I could only manage getting up at 9... today it was 8. Tomorrow I'm shooting for 7. I know, it sounds pathetic. The reality is, I'm a night owl by nature. I've been operating on 5-6 hours of sleep when I know I need 8 or 9. My body has adjusted to a 2-3 am bedtime and a 9 am wake up...and I usually ask it to get up earlier than 9 and just barely make it to 4 pm when I lie down for an hour and crash. It's insane and I don't feel good. So the plan for now is to get on a 6-7 am wakeup and an 11 pm bedtime with at LEAST a walk in the morning. It's still not always going to be the 8 hours that I need, but I'm hoping that changes in diet and adding some exercise will give me more energy during the day.

I'm working hard too at not beating myself up for having to basically start over. I'm really heavy again and even though my aerobic base is still strong, I'm a far cry from where I was for Timberman. Apparently repeating myself is necessary. It's just the way it is.

So, one more hour up and it's off to bed for me. I miss seeing 5:30 am and a pool full of friendly faces. I may really have to re-think my swim team as it swims only at night. :( Doesn't work for me. Especially with such tragic coaching.

Trying to stay positive!